Pat Rick92

When I first got to Venice, I really didn't know what to expect. I've heard a couple stories about the terrible food, rude people, and smelly canals. Besides the dirty water, those weren't entirely true. However, Venice is much more a city of wonder and exploration. It is like an impossible labyrinth which is tough to navigate without a guide. Once you walk down a narrow ally way weaving through tons of people you then go over a bridge and get completely lost. Thankfully, one of my great friends is a Venetian who once studied abroad at my high school. I met up with him and was led to some of the coolest areas of the city. Having a friend who knew his way around perfectly helped us to see areas of the city that no ... read more

Today, I am back in Florence after a weekend of amazing adventures in Southern Italy. The busride lasted for like 6 whole hours with like 2 rest stops. The first thing we did was a trip to Mt. Vesuvius. The busride up was crazy!! First off, our bus was huge. Secondly, the rode to Mt. Vesuvius was intensely curvy and similar to traveling up to Table Rock Mountain in NC. And lastly, Italians drive crazy. Our busdriver was not scared of passing by other cars and buses with only a centimeter between the two. I was surprised we did not scrape up against some other vehicles. It was hilarious because the driver had to constantly honk the whole way up the mountain to avoid hitting cars coming back down the mountain because the roads were so ... read more

Well today I was walking down the street when all of a sudden I saw the "situation". I didn't even realize it was him untill someone else from my group informed me (never seen the show). It was kinda strange, he was just sitting there on via San Gallo smoking a cigarette and all these video people were filming. I could have walked up to say hi but I had to get to class. Now for some better stories! The Italian people are quite friendly. Much better than my experience with the Germans. Everytime that German lady came on the PA system on the plane I thought she was telling us we were crashing, she just sounded so angry. I went to the Gelato Festival the other night. I made friends with the lady who sells ... read more

HERES THE COUNTDOWN TILL ARRIVAL!!!! I will be in Florence, Italy before I know it. My plane lands in Florence on Thursday at around noon I believe. Since the time is all skewed around that means its like 6 am for you guys, UGH thats early! I just need to stay away from a clock that first day and have a mindset that it doesn't matter if I'm 6 hours in the future. That definitely wont be the only thing that I'll find strange. What about the culture!? I feel like I'm going to have a difficult time fitting in with Italian society. Like a dog, I get excited easily and will probably freak out at every little detail that may seem cool to me. Now I've already heard that Italians use this toilet looking ... read more